Wilbur Harris and Baldy Frame proudly represented themselves and the Parkes Bowling & Sports Club participating at state level in the over 40s pairs State Championships under cover on artificial greens at Raymond Terrace last Saturday.

The popular pair played terrific bowls to easily win their first match. Unfortunately, they were beaten in the next two matches. All bowlers in Parkes warmly congratulate them on this achievement.

A quiet day of social bowls on Tuesday, as the cream of the crop, our Grade 3 District Pennants winners motored across to Mudgee for the Regional Playoffs. 

On Rink 4, a game of triples saw Kay Craft/Lynn Ryan/Maureen Baillie survive a united attack by Frances Charlton/Elaine Miller/Rosemary Mitchell, winning by 3 points.

Valmai Westcott/Gwenda Carty won their game of pairs by just one point on the final end against Julie Green/Lea Orr. 

Our Melbourne Cup Spring Carnival is on 1st November! 

By Lea Orr

The rains stayed away long enough to allow 14 social bowlers to enjoy two games of pairs and a triples game last Thursday.

On paper, the triples gun combination of Eddie McPhee, John Niddrie and Geoff Freeman were unbackable favourites over John Carr, Bob Freeman and Rob Irving. However, the under-dogs proved that the odds, and age are irrelevant and after 21 ends, team Irving won 23 shots to 21. 

Ray Jones and President Col Miller started slowly against Mike Valentine and Chris Harrison, to trail by 6 shots after 4 ends. 

Scoring a 5 and three 4s opened up the game for Jones and Miller and they didn’t back off winning by a big margin.

The combination of Mal Porter and John Ward proved too consistent against Ron Hornery and Marty Tighe in a tight game winning 24 shots to 19.

Saturday Bowls were washed out.

By Marty Tighe

The second semi-final of the Minor Singles was played last Tuesday between Gary McPhee and Greg Townsend. The scores were tight over the first 7 ends, only 2 shots the difference in favour of Gary. Playing good draw bowls enabled Gary to maintain, and steadily increase the margin over Greg, to eventually win the match 25 shots to 13. Gary will now play Mick Simpson in the minor singles final.

A high standard semi-final of Major Singles between Mick Simpson and Mick Went was played on Saturday in front of a large group of supporters. The defending champion Mick Went dominated early, leading 8 shots to 2.

However, the very determined Mick Simpson gradually reduced the margin and briefly took the lead, 14 shots to 13. As the thunder and light rain added to the tension on the green, the defending title holder Mick Went outclassed Mick Simpson in the end, winning 25 shots to 16.

Mick Went plays Peter McPhee in the Final, while Mick Simpson has a great opportunity to advance to the Major ranks as he plays Gary McPhee in final of the Minor Singles.

By Karma Chameleon

October has arrived, named ‘octo’ as it was the 8th month of the roman calendar. On Tuesday, 20 ladies were dressed to the nines at the Parkes Bowling Club ready to give their two cents worth!

Two matches of Club Minor Singles were scheduled. On Rink 3, Lorraine Baker put paid to the hopes of Kay Craft, scoring on the majority of ends.

Rink 4 hosted a much closer match between Heather Harvey and Maria Willcockson. As the score see-sawed, the girls gave it their all. Heather was on cloud nine after 25 ends, winning 25 – 22.

The final of the Minor Singles between Heather and Lorraine will be played on 18th October.

Social matches saw Vi West/Chris Curteis/Elaine Miller enjoy 15 minutes of fame with their narrow win over Julie Green/Merilyn Rodgers/Rose Mitchell on Rink 2. High fives all round for Lea Orr/Frances Charlton/Gwenda Carty/Brenda Davies with a sound victory over Carol Reed/Maureen Baillie/Maureen Miller.

Pocket money was claimed by Heather and Marja (card draw), and Merilyn, Rhona and Brenda (100’s club) while lucky Carol won the lucky door.

Next week, all our good luck wishes go to our Grade 3 Pennants team as they contest the Regional Play-offs in Mudgee! Anyone may enter the District Singles to be played on 8/9 November. Check the board for details.

Congrats and thank you to all who purchased Liptember products. We raised $104 for Lifeline and Women’s Mental Health.

To play social bowls next Tuesday, 11th October, call the club on 6862 1446 between 9 and 9:30am. Play at 10am, all welcome.

By Lea Orr

The stadium was filling as 12 social bowlers headed out on Tuesday in Parkes. We kicked off with a spider, and it was Marja’s lucky pink bowl that held its line!

Had we allowed for extra time, Heather Harvey and Liz Byrne, playing against Jan McPhee and Marja Iffland, would have decided their drawn match with a golden point on Field 2.

On Field 3, Merilyn Rodgers and Maureen Miller took advantage of open space to score 2 points more than their rivals, Carol Reed and Brenda Davies.

Fresh from her winter spell, Laurie Keane was keen to win, teaming up with Lea Orr on Field 4. They enjoyed some lucky breaks and won by 3 points against Rosemary Mitchell and Lorraine Baker.

After 9 ends, the whistle blew for the second half and many players were called upon to change positions on the field.

With full back, Brenda now in No 1 guernsey, Team Davies proved too strong for their rivals! Dependable Liz B took over the centre position and led her new team to victory! As Lorraine moved onto the left wing, she finished with a quick run down the line to score the winning point for Team Baker!

By Lea Orr

 

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

The eagerly anticipated final of the minor pairs match was played on Tuesday last week, with Ricky Frame leading for Chris Harrison, playing defending champions Marty Tighe and Gary McPhee. Ricky and Chris struggled early, falling behind by 8 shots after just 4 ends. Gary and Marty bowled very well to be in control early and kept the scorecard ticking over, leading 20 shots to 10 after 14 ends. However, they only scored another 3 shots for the match, as they desperately held off their fast-finishing opponents. Gary and Marty winning the minor pairs final, by 23 shots to 17.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Eighteen social bowlers played 2 games of triples and 2 games of pairs last Thursday.

Ian Simpson, Mick Keane and Major Rob Irving beat Jim Blake, Bernie Mitchell and Tony Riordan 22 to 10.

John Wright, Ron Hornery and Mick Simp-son outclassed Ray Jones, Bob Freeman and Gary McPhee 24 shots to 15.

Graeme Barby and Col Hayward played Joanne Simpson and John Ward in the game of the day. The scores were locked at 15 each after 16 ends. Col and Graeme scored 9 shots in just 2 ends to win by 24 to 19.

By Marty Tighe

September, aka Liptember is upon us at the Parkes Bowling Club! 

This month, our lady bowlers and friends are invited to purchase bright lipsticks in support of Women’s Mental Health and Lifeline. Come along next Tuesday, a normal social bowls day, and join in!

Pennants continued on Tuesday, the 4s feeling blue after a solid defeat by Orange Ex-Services. The highlight of the day was a resounding win by Parkes 3s over Orange City. All players applied themselves well, setting the foundation for their win, and blushing bright pink upon hearing that they are this year’s Central West District Grade 3 Pennants Champions!

Congratulations to both teams for a polished performance over the past few weeks. Next stop Mudgee in October!

We must thank all umpires (Gwenda and Tony) and score-keepers (George, Trevor, Steve, Maureen and Brenda) for their time, ground control gents for the amazing greens, as well as our well-organised player/managers, Lynn and Maria, for all your extra efforts.

The Central West District Mixed Pairs competition will be at our club on 8th and 9th October.

Sunday, 25th September at 11am is the AGM of Parkes B & S C.

By Lea Orr 

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

An intriguing quarter final minor singles match was played on Thursday. Greg Townsend totally dominated Brian Hampton to be halfway to victory after leading 13 shots to 3. Brian came to life and won 6 consecutive ends to be trailing 18 shots to Greg’s 19. Greg remained composed to grind out winners over 4 consecutive ends to nearly have the match wrapped up at 23 to 18. Brian collected 6 shots over the next 3 ends to lead 24 to 23, but he fell agonisingly short as Greg played 2 ends of great draw bowls to win 25 to 24. 

PENNANTS

The Parkes Pirates Division 2 pennants teams played West Dubbo in Dubbo on Sunday, and were winners across each of the 3 rinks. Brian Townsend again played brilliantly to win the ‘Matey’ award. The Pirates Division 3 teams played against the division’s top side, Grenfell in Grenfell, and won only 1 of the 3 rinks.

By Marty Tighe

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES

Last week’s washed-out minor pairs match resumed on Saturday, with Brian Townsend and John Wright re-starting the match on the 17th end leading 16 shots to 14. Brian and John were at 19 shots to 15 with 1 end to play. Gary McPhee and Marty Tighe, needing 4 shots on the last end to force the match into a ‘golden bowl’ end, managed to surround the jack with 3 bowls with a measure for the 4th. Gary, displaying nerves of steel, delivered the last bowl, sitting out his opponents’ closest bowl, picking up the 4 shots, and forcing the match into a deciding extra end. Brian and John didn’t falter and were holding 3 shots. Come the hour, come the great Gary McPhee! His last bowl, forced the jack back to the gutter. Brian just missed drawing to the jack, resulting in a remarkable win to Gary and Marty. 

PENNANTS

Both the Parkes Pirates pennants teams played at home on Sunday. Parkes defeated Forbes in Division 2, winning 2 rinks to 1, scoring an overall win of 62 shots to 51. 

By Marty Tighe

WOMEN’S BOWLS

Once again, bowls were cancelled on Tuesday due to the weather. The Grade 3 Pennants teams travelled to Orange City and played several ends before the snow camouflaged the white jack! Parkes led on both rinks – the finale will be be continued next week.

The Parkes 4s were soundly defeated by Canowindra last Thursday. The 3s fared a little better, with a win by Team Byrne at home vs Cowra 2, but a loss on the board by just 2 points.

By Lea Orr